The Golden Rule

The Golden Rule

Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12, NKJV)

The negative way of stating this command was known long before Jesus. It had long been said, “You should not do to your neighbor what you would not want him to do to you.” But it is a significant advance for Jesus to put it in the positive, to say that we should do unto others what we want them to do unto us.

“The Golden Rule was not invented by Jesus; it is found in many forms in highly diverse settings. About a.d. 20, Rabbi Hillel, challenged by a Gentile to summarize the law in the short time the Gentile could stand on one leg, reportedly responded, ‘What is hateful to you, do not do to anyone else. This is the whole law; all the rest is commentary. Go and learn it.’ (b. Shabbath 31a). Apparently, only Jesus phrased the rule positively.” – D.A. Carson

In so doing, Jesus makes the command much broader. It is the difference between not breaking traffic laws and in doing something positive like helping a stranded motorist. Under the negative form of the rule, the goats of Matthew 25:31-46 are found “not guilty.” Yet under the positive form of the Golden Rule; Jesus’ form, they are indeed found guilty.

This especially applies to Christian fellowship. If we would experience love and have people reach out to us, we must love and reach out to others.

“None but he whose heart is filled with love to God and all mankind can keep this precept, either in its spirit or letter…It seems as if God had written it upon the hearts of all men, for sayings of this kind may be found among all nations, Jewish, Christian, and Heathen.” – Adam Clarke

Prayer

Heavenly Father God, we seek to honor You by obeying Your word. Help us to apply this verse and treat others the way we would have them treat us. We desire to be Your light in this dark and dying world. In Jesus name, Amen.

1 Year Bible Reading

Previous Editions Of Praying Through The Sermon On The Mount

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Today’s Bible Verse & Christian Quote

Today’s Bible Verse:

Colossians 2:9-10; For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Today’s Christian Quote:

“In the Ephesian Epistle the church is the primary object, and the thought passes upward to Christ as the head of the church. In the Colossian Epistle, Christ is the primary object, and the thought passes downward to the church as the body of Christ.” – William Sanday